Tale of the Shinobi
by MyPaperHeart12
Summary: After a unexpected meeting near the Hidden Leaf Village, Sakura is chosen to investigate Itachi Uchiha's movements. The more she learns about this rogue ninja, the more mysterious he seems to become.
1. Chapter 1

Sakura stared at the man who stood only a few feet from her. Despite the fact that she had trained for years as a shinobi and went on many challenging missions, she was not prepared for this. Itachi Uchiha remained standing calmly observing the shinobi's reaction. Wind swept across the grass in waves. Aside from the slight whisper of the wind, there was complete silence.

After a few moments Sakura regained some of her composure. "You're… you're Itachi Uchiha," she said with disbelief.

The man remained silent, but took a few steps towards Sakura. Her eyes narrowed and she tightened her grip on the kunai she was holding. Itachi was one of the most dangerous shinobi out there, and she had to be as alert as possible if she wanted to stand a fighting chance. Little did she know that she was already under the spell of Itachi's infamous genjutsu. Without even realizing what happened, Sakura collapsed on the ground, unconscious. There were few who could match Itachi's genjutsu, and even fewer who could actually defeat his genjutsu. He stood over the unconscious shinobi for a moment before he flitted away.

Sakura woke up in the grassy plain to the sounds of birds chirping cheerfully in the surrounding trees. She rubbed her eyes and surveyed the area. With a start, she remembered what happened right before she lost consciousness: she was facing off with Itachi Uchiha! Scanning the area for his presence, she concluded that he had already left some time ago. But, she was still alive. Itachi was known as a ruthless killer who had single handedly murdered his entire clan, that is, except for his younger brother Sasuke who was now a rogue ninja.

Questions without answers swarmed in her head. Why did he leave her alive? It's not like she could have defended herself. And also, why was Itachi so close to the Hidden Leaf alone? All Akatsuki members travelled in pairs, in it was a rare occurrence for one to travel alone. Regardless of all the uncertainty filling Sakura's mind, she had to inform the Hokage of this event.

After travelling for miles at an incredibly fast speed, Itachi finally stopped to rest near a stream. He wiped the thin line of blood that trickled from his eye off of his face. Even though the genjutsu he had used on the female shinobi was incredibly weak, it still took a toll on him. Earlier than day, he had strained his eye using a more advanced genjutsu, so his run in with one of Konoha's shinobi was all it took to push him over the edge. Itachi desperately needed rest, which was an unlikely even in his future. He splashed some of the clear water from the stream on his face, effectively washing away any traces of blood from his face.

Itachi deactivated the sharingan from his tiered eyes, and looked at his blurred reflection in the water. Over the course of his life, Itachi had made a copious amount of sacrifices, and his only hope was that someday these sacrifices would pay off. The shinobi took off the notorious black cloak adorned with scarlet clouds, and cast it aside. Left in ordinary shinobi attire, Itachi could almost pass as a Leaf shinobi.

Tsunade sat at her desk, deep in thought. The news she had recently learned from Sakura was indeed disturbing. Not only was it disturbing, but it was mysterious. True, the Akatsuki was an organization shrouded in mystery, but the events that Sakura had witnessed just didn't make sense. Why was Itachi alone when so close to Konoha? Thought Tsunade was grateful that Itachi spared Sakura's life, it was against everything she knew about the man to think that he had to capacity to be merciful.

The Hokage spun her chair around and looked outside at the setting sun over Konoha. The presence of Akatsuki members near the village did not bode well, even if they were alone. This matter would have to be investigated fully, and quickly.

"Shizune!" Tsunade barked.

A somewhat frightened Shizune threw open the door and practically fell into the Hokage's office.

"Y-y-yes, Tsunade-sama?" she sputtered. The small pig she was holding even seemed to be anxious around the grave Hokage.

"Shizune, notify Sakura Haruno and Neiji Hyuuga to come to my office immediately! Tell them to come prepared for a lengthy trip," Tsunade ordered.

Shizune stood in the doorway, staring open mouthed at the Hokage. Tsunade turned to her, with fire in her eyes.

"Shizune!"

"Y-yes, Tsunade-sama!" said Shizune obediently before she bolted from the office.

"Genma!" said Tsunade, as soon as Shizune had disappeared.

The male shinobi materialized within seconds in the Hokage's office. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"I need you to go find someone for me, and bring them to my office immediately!"

Sakura and Neiji appeared in the Hokage's office at almost the exact moment. The pair stood silently in front of the Hokage's desk, somewhat confused. They had both been summoned with a great sense of urgency, yet now they stood in silence, while Tsunade kept glancing out the window, and muttering to herself.

Suddenly, Tsunade turned towards the pair with a smile of success. Sakura and Neiji glanced at each other quickly before focusing on the Hokage. There was a slight rumbling in the hallway outside of the office. All three present in the room turned towards the door, Tsunade smiling, and the two chunnin with a look of mile apprehension.

The sound from outside the office grew louder and louder until it seemed to be right outside of the door. Without any warning the door burst open with a flash of dark green. Tsunade stood up, and slammed her hands on her desk, with a smile on her face and a glint in her eyes. The disciple of the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha had arrived, in dramatic manner as usual.

"Now, you've all arrived! Time for your mission: Sakura, Neiji, and Rock Lee!"

The trio stared at Tsunade, waiting for their assignment with bated breath.

"Track down Itachi Uchiha, and find out what he's plotting!"


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura, Neji, and Rock Lee all sat around the fire in silence. After an entire day of travel, the trio was completely exhausted. Neiji had used byakugan for almost the entire duration of the trip, and almost completely drained of chakra. Luckily (or maybe not so luckily), Rock Lee still had an overwhelming amount of energy.

Sakura stared at the fire. She was very apprehensive about this mission. True, it was more of a scouting mission than an actual combat mission, it still made her nervous. Almost all shinobi heard the rumors about the Akatsuki. Not only was the group a viable threat, but Itachi was a merciless, cold-hearted, cold- blooded killer from Konoha. She had taken her other two group members to the place where she had originally encountered Itachi, and had continued the search from there. So far, however, all efforts to locate the Hidden Leaf's own rogue ninja had been fruitless.

"Well," said Neji breaking the silence, "we should probably put out the fire and get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us."

Sakura nodded in ascent and dumped some water from the bucket next to her on the fire. Smoke rose from the now damp earth and disappeared into the night sky.

Neji had already settled into his sleeping area, and Rock Lee was preparing his own space. Sakura remained standing by the fire pit, gazing into the night sky. Something didn't feel quite right, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Uh, Sakura-san, are you alright?" asked Rock Lee, somewhat concerned.

She snapped out of her reverie and smiled at him. "No, I'm fine, Lee. I guess I'm more tiered than I thought!" She feigned a yawn. "Looks like I better get some rest. 'Night!"

Rock Lee looked at her for a moment then nodded. "Goodnight, Sakura-san."

Lee really was one of the most polite shinobi she had ever met, thought Sakura. Maybe he was a little eccentric with his reverence and devotion to Guy-sensei, but he was a good person nonetheless.

Sakura went over to the tree where she left her pack and lay down. By the sound of their breathing, it seemed that Neji and Rock Lee were already asleep. Neji was exhausted, and Lee probably willed himself to sleep somehow, so she wasn't that surprised.

She turned away from her two sleeping companions and looked into the surrounding forest. Deep in the shadows of the woods, she saw what she thought was a figure move ever so slightly. Sakura sat up with a start and tried to get a better look into the dark forest. She glanced at Neji. His byakugan would be convenient right about now, but decided against waking him. It was most likely an animal, she tried to convince herself. The fact that she was already somewhat unsettled about this mission biased her, and she knew it. Every movement she saw and sound she heard would be credited to Itachi Uchiha. Reassured by her logic, Sakura lay down and closed her eyes.

Sakura's eyes flew open when she heard the sound of a crow overhead. A lone crow flew from a tree nearby over the forest. With all of this paranoia she was bound to get a heart attack on this mission, she thought to herself. But still, something felt…off. The shining moon seemed to almost have been shrouded by a cloth and everything sounded as if it were muffled. Something was definitely not right.

Standing up, Sakura looked around frantically. Enough was enough. She had to wake Neji so he could survey the area with byakugan.

"Neji, wake up," she said, crouching next to the sleeping shinobi. "Neji," she said in impatience when he did not stir. "Lee-san!" she shouted when Neji remained unresponsive. Lee was always reliable, and would surely wake when he heard her voice.

But he didn't.

"Don't bother," said a deep and foreboding voice from behind her.

Sakura whirled around, a kunai in hand before she had even completely turned. She knew that voice.

Standing a few feet in front of her was Itachi Uchiha, dressed in the flowing Akatsuki cloak and looking at Sakura calmly.

"Itachi Uchiha!" was all the stunned shinobi could manage.

"You're under my genjutsu already, haven't you realized?" he asked, nonchalantly.

Sakura cursed in her mind. But when, she wondered.

Itachi looked at Sakura, and almost as if reading her mind answered, "It was the crow."

Sakura remained silent. There was no time for talking. If she wanted to stand a change she needed to act quickly. Without warning, she threw the kunai at Itachi in attempt to catch him off guard. His expression was impossible to read, but she took no time to notice. Sakura ran full speed at Itachi with another kunai in her hand, ready to put all of her monstrous strength into stabbing him.

However, when she went to thrust the kunai at his throat he suddenly vanished. She stumbled forward, her eyes growing wide. The only reason she had achieved her previous encounter with Itachi was most likely on a whim of his. There would not be survival from this encounter. One could not be that lucky twice.

Within a second, she felt hands grab her wrists. With one arm bent behind her head and the other bent awkwardly behind her back, her arms were completely immobilized. Her eyes widened even more. Even her notorious strength could not break Itachi's grip.

"You still have a long way to go if you plan on trying to defeat me," he said, his mouth close to her ear. She winced at the sound of his voice. "However, I'm not interested in fighting you or any other Leaf shinobi at present."

Sakura felt her wrists released from Itachi's grip. Within an instant she flitted several feet away from him, and faced her foe.

"If you're not trying to kill us than what do you want with the Leaf?" she asked.

"Hm? You don't already know?" he replied with a smirk.

Sakura remained silent, and glared at Itachi.

"Now, let's talk, you and I," said Itachi.


End file.
